Injuries: Nothing major to report. Nihat is still inching towards recovery, and the October return date is still on target. Yesterday, Cani, Pires and Ibagaza sat out of practice, Cani with the aforementioned right knee issues, and Pires and Ibagaza showing their age. Just kidding. They are recovering from muscle soreness.
Pellegrini's experimentation: With the extreme shortage of strikers available to Pellegrini, he has altered his formation on the field. Rather than the typical 4-4-2, which he is so masterful with, he has been playing a 4-2-3-1. The new formation means having three playmakers - such as Pires, Ibagaza and Cazorla (or any other combination) on the pitch at once. This formation could probably work well with Rossi as a third playmaker as well, if Pellegrini continued to work with the formation into the season.
And, in addition to Nick's very-well-done focus on the loanees, Villarreal's quarry now goes much deeper, into the youth squad. Yesterday, four Submarine youth members were called up by Spain for an international U-19 tournament later this month: Mariño (keeper), Gaspar (fullback), Jordi Pablo and Luque (midfielders). The future looks bright...
Finally, the Olympics start up tomorrow - I will provide updates here on Jozy and Rossi.